Urban Photography

In my first year of film school we learned about city symphonies.  These were often silent films that showcased the working class, mechanization, and social energy of the urban landscape.  I loved the textures, patterns, and sense of history that those films inspired, and so in the summer of 2003 I created my own short, Urban Jazz.

It was because of this project that I began playing around with an old film camera and started shooting stills of old buildings.  Between Medicine Hat and Calgary, Alberta I shot about a hundred images of cityscapes in the summer of 2004.  The majority of the images are of old brick buildings, but almost all of my black and white shots were of downtown Calgary. 

What I love about these images is how the film still has such a distinctive look.  The compositions all feel very cinematic to me, and similar to what I did with my old film school slides, I like to brainstorm by thinking about a scene or a story that could fit each image.  After all of the moving around since these were taken, I'm just glad I still have these to share. Follow up with PART 2 here.

April 16, 2010

It had clouded over, but both Stephanie and I agreed that we had to make the most of our final day in Singapore.  From our hotel we could see the water, and with our afternoon free we decided to find our way to the shore.  We'd spent a week on this island in Southeast Asia, and now we just wanted to put our feet in the South China Sea.

Miles of lush greenery hugged the coastline and we soon found ourselves walking amongst fresh flowers and tall, wiry trees.  You could feel the cool breeze rolling in as the sky foreshadowed the coming rain, but the shifting weather seemed to only enhance the walk we were on.  In some ways it was just another park, and yet that day I was keen to believe that I'd never seen anything quite like it.        

We reached the edge of the beach and walked to the waters edge.  You could see that there was a small shelf to stand on as the waves rolled in, but this was no place to swim.  Through the water you could see how the beach sloped dramatically into the ocean and disappeared into blackness.  Hundreds of cargo ships lined the horizon, and in some ways it was a bit foreboding. In retrospect it's probably what makes the moment standout in my head.

Like a couple of kids testing the temperature of a swimming pool, we cautiously took a few steps.  Then a few more.  My sandals sunk down in the soft sand and in an instant the waves were crashing and swirling around my feet.   

Taking deliberate steps and curling my toes in the cold water, it was one of the few times on the entire trip that I felt completely in the moment. So this is what it feels like to stand in the South China Sea.

A bit further down the beach we spotted a yellow lighthouse tower with a spiral staircase leading up to a round platform.  It was one of the few places in Singapore that we'd actually come across graffiti of any kind (the country is notoriously well groomed).  We browsed the English and Asian characters scrawled and carved haphazardly on the bright yellow facade, and it rang true that no matter where you are in the world, some insults are clearly favorites for everyone.  

That was when it began to rain.

 

We left the tower and headed for a nearby concrete pier to get a better vantage of the beach we had just walked.  The sprinkling rain soon became heavy drops, and as we approached the empty pier a roar of thunder announced the arrival of showers.

There was no avoiding the onslaught, and yet it didn't seem to matter.  Another epic crack of thunder boomed overhead and then echoed off of the open water around us.  As we noticed others scrambling from the beach, Stephanie and I quickly became soaked from head to toe, lost in our own make-shift adventure.  

Here we were in Singapore, on a business trip no less, and yet we'd been able to take time to just appreciate where we were - to let loose, to experience a wealth of new things, and to cap it off with something as simple and gratifying as this. The doorman at our hotel cracked a big smile upon our return, with no explanation about the weather required.  We still apologized for dripping.  

It was a rainy afternoon on the coast of Singapore.  April 16, 2010.

Bertone B99 Jaguar Concept Car

As far as my vision of a dream car is concerned, I'm not ashamed to say that I became slightly aroused when I saw the pictures for the Bertone B99 Jaguar concept car. With Jaguar completely revamping the look and styling of its cars just a few years ago, the brand abandoned the trademark styling that really made the XJ (their flagship model) a standout.

I own a '99 XJ8 and what I like so much about this concept design is that it's taken the classic shape of the XJ, but given it a more aggressive and modern edge.  Instead of adopting an entirely different look, the car pays homage to the roots of the brand while not being so heavy handed with the old-world charm.  Although the design was not officially commissioned by Jaguar (Bertone presented this as a proposal) it's not entirely clear on whether Jaguar will be pushing ahead to put a car similar to this into production in the near future.  A guy can dream though.  I'm going to need some time to save up anyway.